AN IDENTITY IN INK: TATTOOS AS LITERARY ARTIFACTS
An Identity in Ink:
Tattoos as Literary Artifacts
Sarah Semroc
ENG 302
D. Kirkland
Michigan State University
December 2012
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 Introduction
The act of sinking a needle below the skin’s surface and sending a pulsing injection of ink into the
skin’s membrane is an act of near permanence. It is through this act, this inking, that one marks their body with
an alien visual component. In this addition of a visual expression into a person’s skin comes the notion of
evolution. As a new form, image, or phrase is physically manifested into the skin, so begins a complicated
entanglement between one’s identity and said image. The question I aim to raise is one with concern for the
relationship between the ownership of a tattoo and how one identifies themself both individually and in
accordance with others. I believe that with the addition of a tattoo into one’s physical composition comes the
addition of a new form of personal literacy- something that I will call tattoo literacy.
This tattoo literacy encompasses any and all meaning that could be derived from an image of ink sunken
into the surface of the skin. This notion of a single image encompassing as much meaning as a literary tattoo
discourse and also serving as a means by which to identify one’s self or strengthen concepts or ideals that are
possessed by an individual may sound daunting. The reality is that this tattoo discourse, this idea of a tattoo as
a literary artifact, is so strong and abounding that it serves as a means of communication, expression, and
individuality to those who are members of the tattoo discourse community. Through this study I aim to answer
some of the questions revolving around the ways that people with tattoos identify themselves with their tattoos
and also with others. I aim to inquire about how tattoos affect the ways one identifies them self as well as
inquire about the ways that tattoos serve to negotiate evolving meanings from both the viewer and possessor of
the tattoo.
 Literature Review
As I embarked on somewhat of a quest for greater understanding and appreciation for the relationship
between a tattoo and an identity through tattoo literacy, I turned to several scholars working and studying in
the field of literacies. The purpose I set out with in reviewing such scholarly sources as writing by David
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Kirkland or James Paul Gee was to gain a lattice of conceptual framework cornering themes of identity with
literacy, as well as incorporating this new idea of tattoos as literary artifacts. As David Kirkland states in his
article “The Skin We Ink: Tattoos, Literacy and a New English Education” a literary artifact is “the evidence
of performed or human deeds” (Kirkland 2009). In this sense, a tattoo serves its purpose as a literary artifact as
it is the visual representation and result of a human deed. Through this deed, the receiver of the tattoo is
adopting this human act of inking images, words, and expressions into the skin and therefore articulating a new
literacy.
In a study done by David Kirkland, a young adult and the stories of his inkings were studied for meaning
and a greater understanding of tattoo literacy, primarily found within youth culture. The young man present in
Kirkland’s study utilized his tattoos to serve as a reminder, expression of self, and method of communication.
As Kirkland studied Derrick and his tattoos for meaning it was found that: "for Derrick, tattoos represent this
actualization, a performed act or deed through which human beings develop a sense of identity. Identity, as
Bakhtin describes it, does not belong solely to the individual; it is shared by all." (Kirkland 2009). Here, this
notion of a performed act or deed, which is shared between all who view the tattoo and the individual
possessing the tattoo serves to illustrate some of the relationships that exist in the discourse of a crosshatching
of literacy and tattoos.
An important definition in the study of literacy and identity is an agreement on the term “literacy”.
From the article “What Is Literacy?” by James Paul Gee comes a working definition for the term literacy; Gee
writes: “literacy is control of the secondary uses of language (i.e., uses of the language in secondary discourse,”
(Gee 1998). So, from this we can infer that the topic of tattoo literacy is a secondary discourse that is only
acquired, not learned, by an individual. Using this term as a starting point in the understandings of tattoos as a
new literacy helps illustrate the idea that tattoo literacy is a malleable discourse that not only involves the
tattooed individual in creating meaning, but also involves the onlooker. Through the observation, story-telling,
and discourse regarding one’s tattoo is a larger understanding and realization of both meaning and identity, for
not only the tattooed individual, but for all parties involved. It is through these instances of observation, storytelling, and discourse that a new tattoo literacy is acquired and a new control of the secondary uses of language
is realized (Gee 1998).
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 Research Design and Methods
 Setting
As I set out to collect my data from any and all willing participants, I knew that one of the most important
features of my collection would be the way in which I approach my interviewees. Today, the discourse
communities found on online social media websites and networks are ones that function as a way for
individuals to express themselves in one way or another, whether it be via tweet, status update, blog post, or
vlog post. This self-indulgent and seemingly narcissistic discourse we participate in online promotes and
glorifies the expression and explanation of ourselves towards the fellow members of the online discourse
community. In an effort to follow suit with this inquisitive and innocently narcissistic discourse, I chose to
assemble my thoughts into questions and format my inquisitions into a survey. Through my own nearly selfadmiring tweets, status’, and blog postings I invited members of my online discourse communities to inject
themselves into my study. I provided a link to my online survey in each posting soliciting for participants in
my research. To continue the trend of this polite narcissism, I also invited each participant to involve an image
of his or her tattoo as a complement to his or her survey response.
Because I did my study online and collected responses via survey, there is no geographical location to pin
point my setting on. While most of my fourteen participants are from East Lansing, there were some
participants from the Michigan cities of Ann Arbor, Novi, and Grand Rapids, and even from places out of state
like New Jersey. However, ultimately, the true setting of my study took place online in an accessible manner to
all regardless of geographic location.
 Participants
As my setting for advertising my survey was solely reliant on social networks and was inherently directed
towards those who would find themselves viewing a status, tweet, or post from me, my participants of my
study fell within the age range of 18-26. I did not intend for such a polarized group of young adults to be the
sole participants, but through this exploration of the tattoos, identities, and literacies of people from my own
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peer group I was able to more intimately study one age demographic. I was also able to nearly submerge
myself into the study because I myself fall into this age demographic.
Overall, I had fourteen individuals complete my survey. All of these participants are between the ages of
18-24 and are also female. While I was initially setting out to conduct my study I did not intend for such a
small and specific demographic as 18-24 year old females to be the basis of my study. Through the survey that
my participants completed and in the conversations that were had with fellow members of my same gender and
age demographic, I feel that I was able to more closely relate to each participant.
 Data Collection
In a study of a topic as broad and malleable as the relationship between identity, literacy and tattoos, I
recognized the need for a strongly qualitative manner of data collection. As my research sought to question and
implore about my participants’ beliefs about how their tattoo has contributed to an evolved identity or a new
literacy, I knew that I needed to question my participants in an open forum. The idea of comfort and security
was one that I wanted to radiate through my design of data collection; I wanted my participants to feel safe as
they thoughtfully shared some of their private stories and explanations regarding their identity and tattoo
literacy with me. I came to love the idea of a somewhat anonymous forum that allowed participants to purge
their thoughts and share their story to the furthest degree they wished, and for this reason I decided to create an
online survey using “Survey Monkey”.
The purpose of my survey was to allow for an open forum for participants to reflect upon their tattoo
literacy and identity through the completion and contemplation of my carefully worded questions. I knew that
by composing a survey to discuss such an abstract topic as tattoo literacy and identity, I ran the risk of not
effectively communicating my intent or purpose to my participants. In an effort to stint any confusion and in
an effort to inform my participants of some background to the study, I composed a short introduction of sorts
to preface my questions:
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Through my preface, as shown above, I hoped to welcome my participants into my study and encourage them
to be both candid and genuine in their responses. I aimed to illustrate the direction that I was headed with my
research through explaining a working definition for the term “literary artifact” and relate this somewhat
abstract concept to the notion of tattoos serving as a connection to identity.
Also important to me was the option for my participants to only share as much information as they
wished. For example, I provided the opportunity for my participants to remain anonymous by choosing the
name by which I would refer to them in my research. By this, my participants would have the option to keep
their name and identity from my research and through this, they might also feel free to be candid.
While I did only receive one survey result with a changed or anonymous name, I do think that it was important
for me to establish a trusting relationship with each of my participants through providing them the option to
remain anonymous.
By nature, the literacy of tattoos is a very visual and physical expression. In recognizing the
importance of the impact that visual representations of my participants’ tattoos could have upon my study, I
opted to provide the option for those willing participants to share their tattoo visually with the study. One of
the questions in my survey allotted for participants to select “yes” or “no” as to whether or not they intended or
felt comfortable sharing an image of their tattoo with me. Of my fourteen participants, ten people indicated that
they desired to share an image of their tattoo with me, and of those ten people only nine people actually did
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send me an image. By making this offer, a trust exchange was elicited; in exchange for sharing a personal or
private image of a tattoo, I provided the participants with my own personal cell phone number and e-mail
address by which to contact me. By exposing my personal contact methods, I hoped to gain a measure of trust
from my participants.
It was for many reasons that I chose to collect my data in the format of a survey, some of these
reasons being: to allow for anonymity, to have a standard set of questions, to create a trust relationship with
my participants, and to be able to easily access the qualitative data. Upon completion of the survey, some of
my participants personally contacted me and offered to be interviewed or contribute to further discussion
regarding my project. I did take advantage of this offer and conducted very casual interviews in a
conversational format with two of my participants. The purpose of the interviews/conversations was to
supplement my survey results as well as to form a greater understanding of my participants and their tattoo
literacy in relationship to how they identify themselves.
 Data & Analysis
In order to thoughtfully present my data, I plan to illustrate the individual questions I posed on my survey
and then follow each question with a brief synopsis of my results. As my data is solely qualitative, I have
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decided to highlight each participant only at a point where I feel they best illustrate that they are answering
each question.
The first question of my survey is as follows:
Through this question, I simply prompted my participants to explain the composition and visual component of
their tattoo. My participants kept their answers to this question very concise while still providing enough detail
to allow for a reader to visualize the image. Below is an excerpt of the responses from four of my participants:
As the above graphic depicts, the responses of my participants vary in length- those with multiple tattoos
obviously had longer responses that those who only have a single tattoo. Also, some participants included
more detail than others in explaining what their tattoo looks like. The third participant on the above graphic
who explains her “black and grey sunflower” tattoo used more detail than most other participants as she
explained size, placement, shading, and color. This participant was also one of the five people who opted not
to include an image of their tattoo, and this participant was also the only participant who opted to create an
alias name for herself as “Madeline”.
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My fourth question on the survey acts to serve as a bridge between the aesthetics of the tattoo and the
meanings or implications that erected each droplet of ink under the skin for each participant. I wanted to give
my participants a chance to explain, justify, describe, or gloat about tattoos because it was important to my
study to understand the motivation behind choosing to get a tattoo. The question is as follows in the graphic
below:
A spread of answers was derived from this question, and I have displayed the same four participants’
answers as I did for the previous question (see the above graphic). Throughout my data, there were nine
instances of participants getting memorial tattoos in memory for a loved one who passed away. While some
people chose to keep their explanation very short and simple as saying “The breast cancer ribbon is for my
Granny” or “The two sparrows are for my deceased mom and dad”, others chose to compose a longer
description and incite more meaning into their description. Two participants who had memorial tattoos in
celebration of the life of the same person chose to elaborate on their motivation for the memorial tattoo in quite
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different ways. The first person, Emily, chose to explain the death of her loved one, as well as why she felt it
fit to get the same image tattooed upon herself as Nate had upon himself.
The small graphic displaying an answer below was written by the participant named Allie. Allie’s
tattoo is a script of the commemorative statement: “May You Never Walk Alone”. Both Allie and Emily chose
to get memorial tattoos in celebration of the same person’s life. The contrast between Allie and Emily
highlights the depth by which each participant chose to explain their tattoo. Whether or not each participant
chose to deeply reflect upon the meaning and motivation for their tattoo, it is evident that the depth of these
two memorial tattoos is great and that both Allie and Emily hold their loved one so dearly that they would
dedicate a portion of their flesh to reflect the life of their loved one.
After asking the participants to explain the motivation behind their tattoo, I incorporated the question
of identity into the survey. Shown in the graphic below are questions five and six:
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Questions five and six served the purpose of encouraging my participants to share and reflect upon
how their tattoo has contributed to, altered, or factored into their identity. Question six sought for the
participants to even go as far as to examine the relationship of their identity to the approval or questioning of
outsiders who may have agreed or disagreed with the act of acquiring a tattoo in an expressive movement.
The graphic below displays some of the responses to question five that asked participants to elaborate
upon the existing relationship between themselves and their tattoo(s):
The results to this question widely displayed that peoples’ tattoos served as a reminder to themselves
about something that strengthened their beliefs or ideas, and by extension: identity. Sierra, the participant who
wrote the top response on the above graphic stated that her tattoos “express my carefree attitude about life” and
that her tattoos “have not changed the way I identify myself but have only strengthened the ideas they reflect.”
I found Sierra’s reasoning of meaning and identity from her tattoos to be very powerful. Sierra states her claim
in such a way that she is able to assert power and ownership over not only her tattoos as body art, but as
abstract ideas and a system of values that she chose her tattoos to represent. This instance of ownership of both
an image and a strengthening idea, as Sierra has illustrated, is an instance that is indicative of a tattoo as a
literary artifact that serves to contribute to and deepen how she identifies herself.
In response to question six that inquires about the reaction from outsiders to the acquisition of a tattoo
by a participant is the echoing of the same general statement. Most participants chose to address their parents’
or family members’ dislike or misunderstanding of the tattoo, and also address how they were either mostly
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indifferent to their family’s aversion to the tattoo, or how they did seek for approval, but went ahead with the
tattoo despite disapproval. Below is a sampling of the results to this question:
Through the discussion of approval or disapproval of tattoos from onlookers is when the strength in
identity arises within the participants who possess the tattoos. In the responses to question six (as shown above
in a sample), the participants generally relay that despite opposition to their tattoo, they ultimately own the
meaning and aesthetic in their tattoo(s) as part of their identity.
One participant referenced the idea that there is actually a “type” of person who would be more likely
than another to have a tattoo. What this participant, Kellie, wrote was that “people were surprised when they
found out I got a tattoo as I guess I don’t seem the ‘type.’” Here, Kellie pointed out an important issue within
the discourse of tattoos: stereotyping. What I found to be very valuable is that Kellie, a member of the tattoo
discourse community, recognized that she might not fulfill the stereotyped identity of someone who would be
most expected to have a tattoo.
Through this critical awareness of stereotyping and an awareness of the disparity between her own
identity and this stereotyped image of the tattooed woman, Kellie is able to transcend through stereotypes and
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expectations of others. Kellie is a prime example of a tattooed individual from this newer generation of wider
acceptance. In Kellie’s extra comments on the survey she added in that: “I am a librarian and people generally
think of librarians as somewhat conservative, stiff, mundane (enter any librarian stereotype). And while I know
better and know that it is far from the truth about most librarians, it still surprised me the number of tattoos
some of them have, especially the older librarians. I see nothing wrong with it, of course; it just one more thing
that shows how far we've traveled from the stereotype of the crotchety, tight-bunned librarian.” Kellie’s
awareness of the multiple stereotypes that she both fulfills and transcends demonstrates that she is acutely
cognizant of her own identity. Through Kellie’s critical awareness of stereotypes within the literary tattoo
discourse community and her own pride for her own tattoo, she is able to fully embrace her own identity as a
member of the literary tattoo discourse community. By challenging the stereotype model of a “tattooed
woman”, Kellie stands her ground and impresses her literary tattoo confidence further into her identity.
 Findings and Results
Through the discussion that participants willingly inserted themselves into via survey, I have come to a
more realized point of understanding regarding the literacy of tattoos in relationship to identity. My
participants widely echoed the notion that their tattoos did not so much as change or alter their identity as they
strengthened their ideals and affirmed their beliefs, or served as reminders.
One individual participant strongly resonated a rounded understanding of the relationship between their
tattoo literacy and their own identity. In the last question of the survey, I allotted space for people to provide
any further explanation or reflection as they saw fit. One of the answers to this question is as follows:
This individual’s thoughts and assertions fulfill the hypothesis that I initially set out to expect to hear from
participants. I expected to hear participants explaining how their tattoo is not a restraining form of expression,
is not immovable, and is not rigid. What I had hoped for was for individuals to recognize and identify their
own tattoo literacy- and even more than that, I hoped for individuals to realize the relationship that they create
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at a literary discourse level with outside observers of their tattoo(s). In the above dialogue box, Halie, affirms
my hypothesis that “they [tattoos] are an extension, a way to speak without words. Tattoos […] are a story.”
Here, Halie explicitly upholds my understanding that tattoos serve as a form of literary expression, or “a way
to speak without words.” Halie also upholds that tattoo literacy serves to please both the individual and also to
interact in a sort of visual dialogue with others, as “tattoos are a story.” This particular participant demonstrates
a strong understanding of the expressive and communicative literary acts that her tattoos commit, and she
supports my initial hypothesis that emphasizes the interconnectedness between tattoos, literacy, and identity.
Anther participant mirrors the concept of fluidity in her tattoo with her body and identity, as expressed
in the graphic below. This participant states: “I don’t know if they [the tattoos] have changed my identity as
much as become a part of it.” Here, this participant’s statement emulates this notion of incorporating and
owning one’s tattoo on their physical body so deeply that the tattoo becomes one with the body; thus, the tattoo
and the body are one and of one identity.
While many may read this research and be moved to read upon the reflections and private
justifications these participants have explained, a “purist” of sorts may disagree that tattoos are a meaningful
discourse by which one can or should communicate. One of my participants struck an interesting chord as she
gave a brief explanation of the relationship between her tattoo and her personal identity:
This individual, Madeline, states that she personally doesn’t like tattoos and that she “believes that everyone’s
body is beautiful and it looks how it is supposed to. I think it’s beautiful when people keep their hair natural,
their skin unmarked, and no holes in their body. They’re in their purest form this way.” Here, Madeline serves
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as juxtaposition to the other participants who do not admit that they much admire the “purest form” of the
body, as Madeline does. Despite her dislike of tattoos, Madeline’s story illustrates, perhaps, the most beautiful
instance of tattoo literacy and expression. Madeline states that she “has been marked just as my life has [been
marked] by a death of a loved one.” Here, Madeline complicates her own beliefs about purity but admitting
that her life has in fact been tainted, or marked, by the death of a loved one. The poetic part of this is that just
as Madeline states that her life has been marked by this death, Madeline’s skin is now also marked as a result
of a memorial tattoo for the lost life of her loved one. Here, Madeline obscures the arguments of those opposed
to tattoos as a form of expression by succumbing to the desire to mirror a “mark” on her life with a “mark” on
her skin.
 Discussions and Conclusions
This study sought to explore the dynamics and relationships between tattoos, literacy, and personal
identity, and confidently argue that these three topics are so very related to each other. While it is unlikely that
many people will assert that tattoos do not relate to identity or a shared communication, it is likely that a set of
purist standards or stereotypes may be cast upon the inked individual. Throughout my research, multiple
individuals acknowledged that they had received criticism from certain parental figures that asserted that their
tattoo would hinder their ability to acquire a job. However, many individuals also acknowledged that getting
tattooed is becoming more common in this generation of young adults.
As the expression of identity and personal value systems emerges through the visual representations of ink
in skin, it is the hope of many for tattoos to be more widely accepted and admired. Through the questioning
and reflection of my willing participants, I have highlighted the importance in recognizing the relationship that
exists between tattoo literacy, expressionism and identity. Each individual that possesses a tattoo not only
modifies or deepens their own identity or understanding of themselves, they also expose themselves and their
tattoo to a discourse community discussion regarding the meaning and experience related to the identity in
their ink.
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 Sources
Gee, J. P. (1996). Social linguistic and literacies: Ideology in discourses (2nd ed.). Bristol, PA:
Taylor and Francis.
Kirkland, D.E. (2009). The Skin We Ink: Tattoos, Literacy, and a New English Education (V41 N4). English
Education.